


we are powerless

by leafykeith



Series: heroes on a budget [1]
Category: Be More Chill - Iconis/Tracz
Genre: High School AU, M/M, at least part of it, but that'll be explained later, love triange, slow burn?, superhero au, the one we've been waiting for, they all have powers except chloe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-11
Updated: 2018-01-11
Packaged: 2019-03-03 09:25:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,907
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13338303
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/leafykeith/pseuds/leafykeith
Summary: Jeremy just wants to survive high school and help as many people as he can. If he can get the boy at the end, then he'll be more than happy.





	we are powerless

**Author's Note:**

> i m s orr y

Having powers didn’t make Jeremy Heere special. In fact, it was pretty common, even if they were in low levels. Most weren’t strong enough to concern the government, mostly because there was testing once the first signs of powers started appearing.

Jeremy’s dad took him to a testing center after he lost Jeremy in a room with only ten people in it. He was too young to remember anything beyond white walls and endless halls lined with men who glared at him. They had received the results in a manila envelope and a phone call requesting that they return to the testing center for  _ further questioning. _

“It’s rare to find someone with three powers. Especially the ones that he has.” And so, Jeremy had to go to a circular office that had a chemical smell, one that he had yet to forget, with no corners to hide in. They taught him how to make himself noticeable again, but also how to blend into crowds better. They taught him how to control the voices in his head, the ones of his ancestors who tried to give their input when they saw fit, even if Jeremy didn’t ask for their opinions, and reminded him that he was incredibly lucky to have their guidance, that one day he would be grateful for their presence. But those powers were not what the government really wanted to train him in.

Jeremy had been  _ blessed  _ with “Flawless Coordination,” which was an oversimplified way of explaining the actually incredible,  _ awesome  _ power that he had. He could imagine himself doing any type of physical act, and then  _ he could do it.  _ He would trade in “Disguise Mastery” and “Ancestral Evocation” any day if he could just keep the Flawless Coordination.

He couldn’t deny that being practically invisible had its perks, though. It was helpful when he had begun his career as a  _ superhero.  _ His weekend lessons came to an end when he entered high school, because anything that he really needed to learn, he could just picture himself doing. But ducking out of class and finding a place to change was much easier with the ability to blend into crowds. His ancestors were assholes at times, but they did give him good ideas when it came to the actual fighting, since they knew full well that no matter how much he had been trained, fighting wasn’t really  _ his  _ thing.

The government testing usually didn’t lead to discoveries like Jeremy’s had, so no one really suspected that the superhero protecting their small city was a 17-year-old boy who was almost failing math with only one friend.

 

That one friend was texting him right now, informing him that she was outside his house and that if he didn’t hurry, they would be late.

 

Christine had known him since seventh grade, sitting down at his empty lunch table and giving him a big smile. He had made sure to warn her that she was better off sitting somewhere else, but she had shaken her head.

“No way. My power is detecting the goodness in people, and you’re a good person. Why would I want to sit anywhere else?” And so, Christine became his best friend, his only friend. She was really all he needed.

 

She was so… open and outgoing, greeting everyone they passed with a bright smile, while he stared at the floor as they made their way to the lockers. His eyes raised when he heard Rich’s voice calling out to Jake. Christine wasn’t really friends with the popular group, but she gave them smiles anyway, ignoring the way Chloe rolled her eyes and Brooke giggled into her hands. They were only a few feet away and Christine was too busy looking over the bulletin board, so Jeremy listened in carefully, only using his power a  _ tiny  _ bit to edge closer. Rich was enthusiastically telling Jake about the way that the flames had swayed when he had concentrated on the fireplace that weekend. Jake raised his eyebrow at Rich and slyly commented that he was able to float a foot off the ground, to which Rich punched his arm harder than Jeremy thought was “friendly.” Right, Rich could manipulate fire slightly and maybe with enough practice, Jake would be able to soar over them.

Jeremy shoved his textbooks into his locker, going back to ignoring what the Populars were doing. They weren’t all that great anyway. He was happy with just Christine.

 

And Michael.

 

Michael Mell had moved to their city in the fall of sophomore year, and earned himself a reputation as a stoner who didn’t care about the social hierarchy, something that Jeremy was so impressed by. He spent his days with large headphones playing music loudly and playfully teasing with people he didn’t even know that well. anytime he wanted to. Jeremy wasn’t  _ friends _ with him, or anything, but they were mutual friends, through Christine. She had met him in theater rehearsals, and since he told her that acting wasn’t something he would be interested in, but he wanted to be a part of the productions, she introduced him into tech theater. On occasion, he talked to Jeremy, but Jeremy was always too flustered to actual force words out. Thankfully, Michael thought this was funny and just gave him a fond smile, one that sent Jeremy’s heart racing and his face flushed and his mouth dry.

 

And, Michael Mell was walking towards him  _ oh no. _

“Jeremy, have you heard?” He didn’t trust his voice to answer anything, especially with how  _ good  _ Michael sounded in the morning, so he just shook his head.

“Humanity has stopped evolving! Survival of the fittest is old news. There’s never been a better time to be alive.” Jeremy cleared his throat.

“N-neat.”

 

“Neat! I said neat! Of all the things I could have possibly said, I chose  _ neat. _ ” He dropped his head onto his desk. Christine laughed louder, holding her sides in her arms.

“ _ Oh my gosh!  _ You said-”

“Neat! I can’t believe this. He’s never going to talk to me ever again,  _ oh my god, Christine.”  _ She hunched over, unable to speak. He groaned and looked up, one eye still shut.

“Jeremy, there’ll be more chances for you to talk to Michael. I personally guarantee it.”

“That’s even more terrifying.”

“It’s not like you’re jumping off the roof of a building.”

 

She was right. That would be easier than facing Michael again.

He really hated to be a cliche, but standing on roofs of buildings really did give him a good view of the city. He was about to jump onto the next building when he saw Michael walking down the street. He froze and watched Michael turn into a dark, shady looking alley. He was moving before he could even think through it, ignoring the protests of his ancestors.

_ You’re thinking too much with your heart. _

But this was Michael, and he wouldn’t risk anyone’s life. He decided to just observe, smiling slightly as he realized that Michael was just buying pot. He stayed, wanting to be around him for a bit longer, not noticing that someone else had entered the alley while he was distracted by the way that Michael seemed to glow in the sunset.

There was a gun pressed to the side of his drug dealer’s head and Michael backed into the wall. Jeremy ignored the  _ There are battles taking place and you’re choosing to fight in this instead  _ and jumped down, landing on the ground silently. He had done this enough when he was starting out as a hero to not have to think about it anymore. As he stepped out of the shadows, he made a point to not look at Michael. The sound of the gun cocking always made him nervous and he tried to imagine a path that would leave him and Michael alive at least.  _ The gun! Push the gun upwards and then if you can, take it away from him. Then knock him unconscious and get the other two out of here.  _ He really  _ was  _ grateful for his ancestors sometimes. When it came to Michael, his mind got muddled and he would not have been able to come up with a better plan. The man with the gun wasn’t expecting Jeremy to sprint towards him, much less literally kick the gun out of his hands. He went down with two punches, much easier than what Jeremy had seen other heroes take care of, or what he was used to. The drug dealer’s eyes widened and he pointed at Jeremy.

“You’re the guy! The hero! The Defender!” Jeremy tilted his head.

“Is that what people call me? That’s not very creative. You should tell them I don’t approve.” The drug dealer nodded nervously, and then proceeded to faint. He turned to Michael and his voice felt softer.

“Are you okay?” Michael nodded, his face red.

“I just… I didn’t expect you to dress like that in real life.” Jeremy looked down at his outfit.

“I’m comfortable.”

“Hoodie, leggings, and combat boots? It just seemed like something a fan made up.”

“I’m a hero on a budget.”

“Plus a mask that I think I’ve seen in Koreatown.” Jeremy squinted.

“I bought this online.”

“Pfft. I didn’t know that our city’s defender is a Koreaboo.” Jeremy gave him a half smile and shook his head.

“You caught me.” There was a silence and Jeremy had to look away from Michael because of the intense stare that he was giving.

“I should go.” 

Michael’s eyes widened and he nodded.

“Oh! Uh, yeah. You should. You need to help others.”

“Yeah. You’ll be safe, right? Go straight home.” Michael’s face turned red and he scratched the back of his neck.

“Ha. Uh, yeah. I’ll be that. Safe, I mean.” Jeremy’s smile grew slightly, not used to seeing Michael like this.

As Jeremy was about to leave, Michael stopped him, his fingers brushing the sleeve of Jeremy’s hoodie.

“I’m Michael, by the way.”

“Nice to meet you.” He could pretend like this. He didn’t stutter like this, not when he was in his “uniform,” even if Michael was in front of him with a slight stutter in his own voice.

“I just want you to know that you are super neat.” And Jeremy’s heart skipped a beat. Michael realized what he said and ran his fingers through his soft looking hair.

“I mean cool. You are super cool, is what I meant to say. Not neat.” Michael rubbed his temples, shutting his eyes tight. “I can’t believe I just said neat to you. I heard it today and thought it would be cool and original to say, but  _ wow _ right now is not the right time.”

Jeremy couldn’t believe it either, but something he had said stuck to Michael all day.

“Michael, I think you’re pretty neat, too.” His eyes opened and his lips parted slightly.

“Right,” he squeaked out, before clearing his throat. “Yes, right. I, uh, thank you? I mean thank you so much. Can I get a picture before I go?”

“Definitely.”

 

Jeremy stopped by the usual places, but was unable to think about anything other than Michael and the way he had looked in the alley lighting. He prevented the robbery of a bank, but his head was in the clouds. The only reason he was even able to do his job was because of his ancestors commanding him. He knew that it wasn’t a good idea to let them take control like that, since they tended to be harsher than he normally was, only wanting to stop when the bad guys were black and blue and red all over. It was hard to turn off the voices in his head, but he couldn’t give in like that. He couldn’t cross the line into killing someone, even if they were guilty of terrible crimes. He would be on the radar at that point, and he didn’t want to disappear or turn into the very villains he fought.

 

Christine called him five seconds after he arrived back home, slightly bruised from having to take on a gang of men hanging out by the back alley of a club, after he noticed them catcalling and harassing drunk girls that stumbled out. He put the call on speaker and started changing, wincing slightly as he pressed down on one of the bruises by accident.

_ “Jeremy! I have exciting news to share with you!”  _ He smiled at her excited tone.

“Do share.”

_ “I got one of Jenna’s mass texts and she heard from a former student that we’re gonna have a group project this week in health.” _ Jeremy froze.

“Are you shitting me?”

_ “Nope.” _

“Christine, please,  _ please,  _ be in my group.”

_ “He decided our groups for us already.” _ Jeremy groaned and threw himself onto his bed.

“Great. I don’t have any other friends in that class besides you.”

_ “Not true. You know one other senior in that class pretty well.” _ Jeremy rolled over, reaching out blindly for his phone.

“Yeah, but the possibility of Michael being in my group are slim to none. We aren’t close alphabetically and Crawford knows we aren’t friends.” Christine giggled.

_ “That’s not true. Jenna told us in the text that he grouped us based on our seats. And since you’re in the same column...” _ Jeremy fell off the bed.

“What?!”

_ “Yes!” _

“No!”

_ “Yes!” _

He grabbed a pillow and started screamed into it.

 

“This is a terrible thing, Christine. Terrible, terrible, terrible.” Christine shook her head and shoved him into class, ignoring his protests.

“Jeremy, it’ll be fine. You had all weekend to panic. Time to face your fears.” He slumped down into his seat and Christine slid into the desk next to his. She turned around to the person behind her, one of her friends from theater, and he laid his head on his desk, watching the door. 

 

He remembered how flustered he got the first day of class seeing Michael sitting at one of the seats, turning to Christine excitedly. She had smiled wickedly and pulled him towards Michael.

“You mind if we sit here, Michael? Us seniors have to stick together.” He gave them a lazy smile and nodded, leaning forward.

“As long as you don’t tell anyone I got high during lunch and haven’t come down from it yet.” Christine giggled and shoved Jeremy into the desk in front of Michael.

“We have a deal.” She winked at Jeremy, who fixated his stare at the whiteboard in front of him, pointedly  _ not  _ thinking about how easy it would be to just turn around and  _ talk  _ to Michael. He would instead,  _ not  _ do that and continue to face forward, picturing their future life together.

 

Jenna Roland walked in after Michael, texting rapidly as she asked him questions.

“Weren’t you starstruck? I know I would be.” Michael waved to Jeremy, pausing at the front of the classroom.

“I really was. Meeting the Defender was the greatest thing that’s ever happened to me. I… I was kind of a fan before, but now, now I’m even more of a fan. He’s so…” Michael trailed off, his cheeks beginning to turn pink. Jenna nodded along, her fingers never slowing down. He looked away from them, his eyes staying on the ground. “He is so incredibly talented. Like a local Captain America.” Jenna  _ ahh _ -ed and typed even faster, approving of his simile clearly. She finished her text and locked her phone.

“Thanks, Mell. I’ll credit you on my blog.” Michael had a big smile on his face and gave Jenna an affirmation noise.

Michael dropped into his seat and stared off into the distance, Christine noticing the dopey smile on his face.

“I heard you met the Defender, Michael. I’m so jealous! What was he like?” Michael’s smile got wider, and he turned, eyes meeting Jeremy’s. Jeremy felt his heart literally  _ stop.  _ Nothing,  _ absolutely nothing,  _ could ever compare to seeing Michael look so lovesick, his features soft and he was looking at Jeremy as if he was seeing the Defender right there  _ (ironic, right?)  _ and Jeremy wasn’t sure if he could ever recover from that.

 

“I don’t want to do a presentation and have all you just zone out and go into autopilot with this unit. Therefore, you will be in a group and you will read a chapter, and make a slideshow for it. You’ll take notes of others’ presentation and turn it in for a grade. You have twenty minutes left in class if you want to look over the details and discuss a game plan. Each column has it’s own chapter. Canigula’s column, first chapter. Heere’s column, second chapter, and so on. Get to it.”

Their health teacher smiled, and Jeremy felt his heart sink as he felt Michael tap on his shoulder.

 

“You should come over to my place to work on it. Doubt the freshmen in our group will actually do any work on it. Besides, I have the best tech in my basement and we can smoke a little before we actually work.” Jeremy would never be able to resist Michael, would he?

 

“You… Have a lot of Defender posters.” Michael’s face was bright red as he moved around the basement, trying to hide and shove trinkets around the room.

“I’m a pretty big fan. Don’t judge too badly.”

“Why do you like him so much?” Jeremy sank into one of the bean bag chairs after Michael gestured him to take a seat.

“I don’t know. He’s so minimalistic and he’s actually… He seems like a person. He isn’t unapproachable. He’s a real hero on a budget.” Jeremy hid his smile. “He… He’s kind of inspirational. I wish I could be like him.”

Jeremy hummed in response, unable to keep a smile off his face as he looked around, taking in the sight. Michael followed his glances and pointed to one of the more… inappropriate posters. The leggings that Jeremy prided himself in picking due to their comfortable warmth and flexibility during his fighting, were  _ much  _ tighter in the image and his hoodie was riding up as he bent over, giving bedroom eyes to the person behind the “camera”, probably sporting a sexy smirk under the mask.

“That one’s my favorite.” Jeremy felt his face heat up and cleared his throat, knowing his stammering would make an unwanted appearance if he even tried to speak. His ancestors grumbled in his mind and forced their words out of his mouth, knowing he was weak at that moment. They… were severely uncoordinated and did not have a plan, so what came out of his mouth was the verbal spazzing on a keyboard. Michael’s lips twitched upwards on one side.

“It’s a good picture, isn’t it? One of my favorite artists was accepting commissions and I couldn’t resist.” He stood and walked to admire the poster, tilting his head slightly. “I really love her style. It’s so realistic. I actually thought she went outside and asked Defender to pose.” He sighed longingly. “I wish his leggings were actually that tight.” He crouched slightly and gestured at the strip of exposed skin that the hoodie usually covered. “I actually cried when I first received the print.”

“Uh…” Michael snapped out of his trance and turned back to Jeremy, face red.

“I’m not trying to sexualize him. I know it comes off that way, but I swear I’m not. Maybe I did a bit at the beginning, but not anymore. Once I met him, I had one million other reasons to be in love with him besides his body. He’s…” Michael looked over at the other posters, a warm smile on his face. “He’s actually really neat.” Jeremy felt his neck heat up, knowing his face must be redder than Michael’s, which was back to the tan color that Jeremy wrote sonnets about. Michael turned to face him, with a smile that was meant for  _ Jeremy _ , not some residual smitten grin meant for Defender, but just for  _ Jeremy.  _

 

“Why didn’t you text me back yesterday?” Jeremy threw his backpack into the backseat of Christine’s car. She winced slightly.

“Sorry, had some bad thoughts and needed to be alone. He slid into the passenger seat and gave her a small smile, one that she returned.

She drove them to school, putting her musicals on and attempted to sing all parts in songs. Jeremy joined in shyly and much quieter voice. When they reached the school, Christine unbuckled herself and threw herself at Jeremy, who still had his seatbelt on. He patted her back as reassuringly as he could. She buried her face into his neck and mumbled out  _ jeremy i love you please stay safe and don’t do anything bad. _

There was a knock on Jeremy’s window and Christine pulled away from Jeremy, and  _ god he wished he really hadn’t looked out that window  _ because Michael was there, looking embarrassed, as if he had caught Jeremy and Christine in some intimate scene. He gave an awkward wave and Jeremy had never wanted to disappear more in his entire life. He raised his hand in an uncomfortable way, and he heard Christine snort as she unlocked their doors.

“Walk with him to class!” She hissed. He nodded obediently and got out the car, grabbing his backpack before he left. Michael was looking around at anything but Jeremy, Christine, and the car. Jeremy swallowed hard, not knowing what to say, and felt his hands start to shake. Michael finally glanced at him, Jeremy’s fingers beginning to drum lightly on his thigh, needing to do something to keep his hands occupied. His fingers stilled and Michael raised an eyebrow at him, beginning to walk towards the school.

“So…”

“So?”

“You and Christine?” Jeremy froze, Michael’s smile widening.

“Wha-?”

“It’s cute. I thought you two would be cute together from day one, but I wasn’t sure if you two were dating or not-” Jeremy sputtered and gestured madly.

“No! Christine- I- No!” Michael tilted his head.

“No?”

“Christine and I are just friends! No romance there. Just best friends.” Michael frowned.

“Huh. I really did think you were dating her.”

“She… Christine is not into the dating scene. She just likes being friends with everyone. And affectionate. But no, no romance.” Michael laughed and started walking again.

“Alright. Noted.”

 

“ _ Noted.”  _ Christine took a french fry from his plate and bit into it thoughtfully.

“It  _ is  _ an interesting choice of words.”

“I  _ know _ . That’s why I need to know what he meant? Was he jealous? Why was he even there? Christ _ ine, now is not the time for fries!”  _ Christine made a disapproving sound.

“Jeremy, you’re panicking again. He probably wanted to talk to you. You’re friends now, right? You were at his house. You saw his yaoi-”

“Not yaoi! Just… weird fan art.”

“ _ Yaoi.  _ And he invited you to hang out again today! Sounds like friendship to me!” Jeremy hid his grin by taking a sip of his soda. Christine took another fry and ignored his protests.

 

The Populars were in the way of his usual path to his locker, and his hands started getting sweaty at the thought of having ask them to move. He wondered if he should activate his power, ignoring the voices of his ancestor telling him to just shove past them and get ready for a fight. Before he could even consider the idea, Michael jogged up to him.

“Jeremy, you look hella stressed. What’s wrong?” Jeremy didn’t know how to even word  _ ‘help the Populars are blocking my locker and i would rather jump straight into hell than talk to them.’  _ Thankfully, Michael seemed to understand this, his eyes appearing to turn blue under the cheap school lighting. He asked for the locker combination, which Jeremy stuttered out, never able to say no to Michael after all. He excused himself and approached the Populars, Jeremy’s mouth dropping open at the way that he put his headphones up, music blasting loudly. The Populars glanced over at him without so much as rolling their eyes as he pushed them slightly out of the way. Jeremy edged closer, activating his power a  _ tiny  _ bit, listening to the way they just brushed Michael off,  _ he obviously has more important things to worry about, so it’s fine, Brooke, he’s not even one of the most annoying people at the school, honestly if he didn’t talk to losers so much, he could probably hang with us. _

Jeremy felt his fingers twitch as Jake looked over his shoulder at Michael, a strange look on his face. His stomach twisted and he didn’t even realize he was clenching his fists until his nails was starting to dig deeply into his palms. Jake shouldn’t be looking at Michael like that, not that way that he had looked at Chloe at the beginning of the year, or the way he had looked at Christine before realizing that romance was not in the cards for her. Jake could have anyone he wanted, with his Superman-esque aura and looks, at any time he wanted. He just needed to send them a grin and a wink and he had anyone he wanted. Out of the entire school, he could  _ not  _ go after Michael. Not him. But it looked like it wasn’t up to Jeremy.

Once Michael had the locker open, he paused the music and turned to Jeremy, tilting his head towards the locker as a signal to walk over. Jeremy kept his eyes on the floor and stuffed his notebooks back inside and reaching to get the ones he needed for homework. He stole a glance over at Michael, who had his eyes shut and was humming along to a ballad. Jake wasn’t participating in the group conversation. Jeremy pretended not to notice that he was turning his body to face Michael. Jake reached out and touched Michael on his arm, smiling at the startled look on his face.

“You’re in theater, right?” He asked once Michael paused the music.

“Tech. I, uh, help set up. No actual acting.” Jake gave him an even bigger smile.

“That’s pretty cool. I was in theater for a little bit-” Jeremy scoffed as he recalled the way that Jake had only joined to flirt with Christine for a few weeks, and dropped the club a week after Christine had apologized for “leading him on”, but Jake sent him a dirty look before he could say anything. “But my schedule got too cluttered and I had to drop some clubs.” Michael was nodding along and his gaze wasn’t leaving Jake’s face.

“Tech doesn’t really take up much time. We just watch a lot of musicals to observe their sets and we’re really only busy building for our own musicals and plays and during the shows.” Jake leaned against the lockers on the other side of Michael ( **_obviously_ ** _ trying to force Michael to choose between Jeremy and Jake, but honestly, who wouldn’t pick Jake every time?)  _ and despite the protests of his ancestors to  _ Be a fucking man, Jeremy, don’t just ignore us,  _ he shut his locker and started to walk away, hesitating as he wondered if he should say goodbye.  _ Whatever. _

He had made it a few feet before Michael called out his name, and he got a confused look and a questioning wave from Michael. He returned the wave and shifted his eyes to the right slightly, trying not to react at the unimpressed look on Jake’s face.

As he waited for Christine by her car, he tried not to imagine what Jake could be saying to Michael or that Michael would have a special smile reserved for Jake only.

Jake Dillinger could have anyone he wanted in New Jersey, why did he suddenly want Michael Mell?

 

_ “You’re being paranoid. Jenna Roland hasn’t posted anything about them yet, so I think you’re in the clear for now, Jer.”  _ He sighed and shoved his face into his pillow.

“You don’t get it, Christine.” His voice must have been muffled, but Christine understood him anyway.

_ “Enlighten me, Jer.” _

“He was giving Michael this  _ look!”  _

_ “A look?” _

“Like, the signature  _ Jake Dillinger  _ look, you know? The one that tells you that he wants to bang.” Christine laughed on the other side of the line.

_ “I don’t think that’s a look he actually gives people.” _

“It is! I remember he gave you that look when he was in theater. Christine, he  _ cannot  _ have sex with Michael, okay? He cannot!”

_ “First of all, it doesn’t mean he’ll have sex with Michael. Maybe he wants to be friends. Second of all, Michael can have sex with other people. I doubt he will, but it’s a possibility unless someone else asks him out. Like you’ve been wanting to since sophomore year. It’s been two years, maybe you should ask him out.” _

Jeremy screamed into the pillow again, ignoring the way that Christine snickered and the way that his ancestors took her side.

 

Michael grinned and waved to Christine as she dropped Jeremy off at his house. She had insisted on taking him to Michael’s after he had called her in a panic the night before to report Jake’s strange interactions with Michael.

“Hey dude, you left pretty soon after school. I was gonna offer to take us to get a slushie and maybe come back here to work on the project.” Jeremy laughed nervously and followed Michael down the steps to his basement.

“My, uh, my dad called and told me to come home right after school. Besides, you hung out with Jake and them right?” It was a pathetic way to get information and he knew it, but people do stupid things for the people they like. He felt his heart sink as a blush rose in Michael’s cheeks and he scratched the back of his neck.

“Ha, yeah. The others ignored me, but Jake was pretty nice. I’ve never really talked to him before yesterday, so uh, thanks for giving me an opportunity I guess?”  _ Fuck, it was really on him. What an idiot. _

“Are you two…?” He couldn’t bring himself to finish the question, and honestly, he didn’t know what he wanted to ask.

Michael looked away, stepping up to the poster that still caused Jeremy’s hands to get sweaty.

“We talk now. He said he might want to come over and get high, but I don’t think…” He trailed off, choosing to just stare at the poster.

Jeremy walked up next to him and tilted his head.

“I think it’s growing on me.” Michael snorted and Jeremy could die then with the fresh memory of Michael’s soft smile directed at him.

“It’s art.”

“Yeah, I guess.” Michael turned back to the poster. “You really like him, don’t you? Defender?”

“Yeah, I guess.” Jeremy rolled his eyes at his response.

 

“This project is dumb.” Michael laughed from his bean bag, but his typing didn’t stop.

“I know, Jeremy, but we gotta represent the seniors.”

“Shut up.”

 

“How was your date?” Jeremy slammed the car door shut and Christine winced. “Yikes.”

“ _ Jake Dillinger  _ is on his way here.” Christine raised her eyebrow at him and put the car into drive.

“Okay, great, we’re gonna go get frozen yogurt and then we’ll watch sad movies and plot his death.”

“Whose death?”

Christine just winked at him and kept driving.

 

“She isn’t that bad, you know. I think it’s just… other people influencing her behavior.” Jeremy rolled his eyes and leaned back in his seat. He looked around the upperclassmen lounge, eyes catching on her, sitting alone, picking at her nails as she jiggled her leg.

“Why is she alone? Aren’t the Populars supposed to stick together?” Christine frowned and pressed her palms onto the top of the table and Jeremy grabbed her wrist.

“Christine, don’t do this. I know you have this  _ I have to be nice to everyone  _ thing, but she really doesn’t deserve it. Have you forgotten everything that she’s done?” Christine hesitated.

“She didn’t  _ really  _ do anything… It was just the others…”

“That doesn’t make her innocent. I didn’t see her disagreeing with the others.” Christine lowered her gaze, bangs falling to cover her face. Jeremy released her wrist, but she shot forward, heading for Brooke Lohst. Jeremy groaned, not wanting to follow, so he settled on just watching her. Brooke was sitting alone when Jeremy had entered, which was unusual for her anyway, since her and the other Populars left the school for lunch, but he had ignored it, thinking that the others would come in eventually. They didn’t.

He watched Christine gesture wildly and witnessed a rare Brooke Lohst laugh, one that wasn’t a mocking them or false in order to get Chloe’s approval. She bit her lip nervously and looked around Christine, towards Jeremy. He sat up quickly and waved quickly, recognizing the lost look in her eyes. As Christine turned back around, Brooke gathered her bag and stuffed her phone in, standing to follow. No one else really sat at their table, because any other seniors went off-campus and juniors knew that despite Jeremy and Christine’s place on the social hierarchy, they were automatically below them due to their grade level. Brooke sat across from them, an awkward smile on her face. He had never seen Brooke Lohst look so out of place before.

 

She didn’t leave the Populars, but she definitely didn’t leave them either. She opted out of eating lunch with the Populars, ignoring the way that Chloe huffed, the same way that Christine ignored the snide comments. She didn’t open up to them easily, but when she showed up to Christine’s house with tears in her eyes that she hid from Chloe, they didn’t push her away, and she fit into their lives like she was meant to all along. 

 

Michael falling asleep in class was an incredible occurrence, because he leaned forward on his desk and his hair tickled the back of Jeremy’s neck if he was leaning back  _ just  _ right.

Christine always giggled softly, but never looked over, she just knew it, probably from the way that Jeremy turned red and shivered, hands gripping the sides of his desk.

 

Jeremy peered over at the streets, trying to find a place to go. He wondered if Michael was out with Jake today, maybe seeing a movie or smoking in his basement.

As he ran across the rooftops, he ignored the scolding from his ancestors to  _ be a man, actually talk to him, you’re a disgrace to our family name,  _ but he still listened out for them giving him directions.

_ Bank robbery _ , he registered as he watched lights flickering inside the building. Before he could jump down from the roof, someone dressed in all black was thrown into the window, shattering the glass and landed outside of the building.  _ Or maybe not? _

The man ripped off his mask and took in deep breaths, and groaned. As Jeremy approached, he rolled away.

“Ah, shit. Your friend already got us. Please. I just- Just leave me alone out here.” Jeremy frowned under his own mask and looked inside the building. He couldn’t  _ see  _ anyone, but he definitely heard the sounds of people fighting.

_ Get in there and kick ass. _

Well, he would have, but someone appeared to have beat him to the punch, literally. He could barely register who the bad guys were, but there seemed to be someone who was fighting against everyone else. Jeremy decided to stay hidden, at least for the time being. This person could handle their own fights, and he would intervene if anyone got too close to him or if the other person looked too overwhelmed. But they didn’t, they looked in their element. They were graceful in a way that Jeremy could never be, moving fluidly through the air like it was  _ nothing.  _ Jeremy had the ability to do anything if he could imagine himself doing it, but fighting looked natural to this person, as if they didn’t have to think or doubt themselves. Before Jeremy knew it, everyone was down. The person stayed turned in the other direction, hunched over slightly, panting as they collected enough oxygen back into their lungs. As they recovered, Jeremy took the time to check them out, giving them a once over.  They had a very Black Widow-esque clothing on, skin tight and guns strapped to their thighs, which Jeremy pointedly did  _ not  _ stare at. They had short hair, slightly damp with sweat, a pretty brown color, like Michael’s. They straightened up, and laughed.

“Oh shit, I did this,” a soft whisper carried across and Jeremy cleared his throat, not knowing how to prepare himself. He really hoped that they were on his side, because Jeremy was not confident in going against someone who could take out these many guys without even touching their guns. The person turned back to face Jeremy and they got a huge smile.

“It’s you! I didn’t think I would find you on my first night!” The guy  _ (guy)  _ did have a mask over his eyes, but it wasn’t a very good one, that had resembled the fancy spiderweb-like masks that were popular back in the day at masquerade balls, and he had electric blue eyes. Ones that Jeremy swore he had seen before, slightly less dim, though. The area around his eyes, beneath the mask, had that same electric blue lines running, as if it was running through his veins. It could be so easy to identify him, Jeremy thought, but that was a risk that this guy took.

How hard would it be to disarm him? His ancestors laughed at him.

_ It was nice knowing you, Jeremy Heere. You will die if you try to go against him. _

How comforting.

The guy stuck out his hand and grinned excitedly at Jeremy.

“I don’t have a name yet, at least not a superhero one, but I’m a huge fan of you. Like, a giant fan. And you inspired me, honestly. I’ve never really wanted to do the superhero thing, but I love that you put others before yourself and that you’re so willing to come out here and do your thing!” His gestures with one hand were amusing as he continued to shake Jeremy’s hand, and his voice has a strange electrical undertone, and he felt a spark when their fingers touched, since the guy had edgy fingerless gloves.

“Guns are…” The guy’s eyes widened and he smiled sheepishly.

“I grew up in a bit of a strange household, and I thought it was better safe than sorry to have them around in case things get too rough. You should invest in one, you know. Fighting with fists won’t always be enough.” Jeremy nodded. He knew that, but the thought of carrying around something that could take away a life so easily made him sick.

“Maybe someday.”

The other guy laughed, even if Jeremy hadn’t said anything funny, but Jeremy found that he didn’t mind it as much as he could’ve.

“What are your powers?” The smile that lingered on his face after the laughter faded quickly.

“I have, uh, Augmented Vision, so I’m basically living in a video game whenever it’s activated. I can see data about objects as long as there’s something about it online. I can see your powers, but not your identity, since you’re kind of famous. Well, I can see the Perfect Coordination and Ancestral Evocation. There’s a third slot here, but I don’t think there’s anything written about it yet, so I can’t see it.” Jeremy felt a pang of jealousy at the Augmented Vision, but he was clumsy enough as it was, he didn’t need even more distractions getting in his way.

“My third power is hidden? How fitting.” He got a confused smile that he didn’t know how to respond to, so he just gestured for the guy to continue.

“I also have Power Manipulation, which is exactly what it sounds like.” Jeremy took a step back.

“You can manipulate other people’s powers?” He got a small nod.

“I can temporarily disable someone’s power, or enhance it, or really anything to their powers, but I have to be touching their skin.” That explained the fingerless gloves.

“Can you.. uh, delete powers?” His face darkened.

“That doesn’t fall under power manipulation.” Jeremy understood a dismissal when he heard one and looked around the room.

“I’m not gonna lie, this is both extremely awesome and scary at the same time. Are you sure you’re a good guy?” There was laughter and Jeremy  _ knew  _ he had heard that laugh before, but he just couldn’t put his finger on it.

“I am just a huge fan of yours. It would be great if you let me join you?” 

 

The decision wasn’t exactly difficult. Jeremy was just one little guy. Yeah, he could fight, but would it be enough for some baddies? Would he always be able to handle it all by himself?

 

Jeremy Heere couldn’t just  _ walk  _ into a gun shop, because honestly who would look at him and not ask too many questions? Stealing one… was tempting, but he wasn’t sure about how much he liked that idea either. He settled for asking his new… partner… how to use one, should he ever need to use one as a last resort. He had gotten a laugh, but the guy was patient and let Jeremy take his time to figure out the best way for him to use it.

If this is who he would be working with, Jeremy supposed he didn’t really mind all that much.

 

“Now there’s two of you?” The asshole was reaching down, into a toolbox, and Jeremy knew he could usually handle something like this alone, but it was still nice to have someone else here.

“He’s still in training.” He heard a snicker from behind him and felt his lips twitch upwards.

“I’m mostly watching, but I’ll come in if I need to.” Jeremy tilted his head in acknowledgment and hunched down slightly, getting his body prepared for an attack. The man even looked like a baddie (“You call them baddies?” He had ignored the disbelief in his voice. “I can’t believe my hero is such a nerd oh  _ my god.”)  _ and Jeremy didn’t have a problem with these types of guys. It was when they looked like anyone else, like someone he passed on the sidewalk without batting an eye, that Jeremy had problems with. It was one thing to look and act like an asshole, but to look like someone who had a family to go home to and still have a part of their mind rotten to the point of reaching meaningless violence, that was different.

He had a hammer in his hand, hefting it slightly with a smirk on his face. Jeremy narrowed his eyes and let the voices of his ancestors fill his mind, reveling in their ideas.

The hammer swung, but Jeremy had already ducked, moving to the side of the other man, kicking out to knock his knees forward. The hammer fell out of his grip and Jeremy almost laughed. These guys got easier to beat every time. It wasn’t as if he wanted more violence, but he wished it would get more interesting than just knocking them out.

Jeremy looked up and found his new… God, he really needed a name for this guy. He was running out names.  _ Just call him X, like a variable.  _ Jeremy considered this.  _ V for variable works as well, I suppose.  _ V then. For the moment.

“Hey, why do you think he has so many chains here?” V slid his hands over the thick metal links and turned to Jeremy. “Can you break this?”

_ Strength is not your power, but you realize there is little you cannot do, don’t you? _

He pulled out some of the chains and noticed the door behind it.

“Yeah.”

Ripping the door open might have seemed… not smart, but it was the fastest way. He heard the approval from his ancestors and looked over at V. He looked flustered and cleared his throat.

“That works, too.”

It was dark inside, but V took the lead, and Jeremy assumed that his vision thing gave him blueprints of the house or maybe night vision or something equally cool like that. Jeremy just squinted and followed his lead, praying this wasn’t some sort of set up.

“Hey, I think there’s someone else in here.” Jeremy froze and he looked around.

“Why are they in the dark?”

“There’s two people in here, but one of them is small-” He stopped himself and looked back at Jeremy.

“I think there’s a kid in here.” He pulled out one of the guns from its holster and took a deep breath, his eyes glowing more than they already were. Jeremy didn’t have a chance to ask what he was doing before V kicked down the door, aiming inside the room.

A woman was holding onto a young child, eyes full of fear, pushing the boy behind her and trying to make herself seem bigger.

V held up one hand and let the hand with the gun drop to his side. Jeremy followed his lead and held up both of his hands.

“Are you okay?” The woman shook her head.

“Where’s my husband? Is he okay?” V looked over at Jeremy and scratched the back of his neck.

“He’s alive at least.” The woman loosened her grip on her son and Jeremy noticed tears in her eyes.

“Miss, does your husband…?” He didn’t know how to finish the question, but based on the bruises on her arms and the panicked expression, the answer was yes.

“I need to go check on him,” V murmured to him and Jeremy nodded, turning back to the woman.

“He’s just… so charming. I can’t say no to him. I hear myself screaming out no to him in my head, but I physically can’t say no. It feels like there’s a fog and I’m choking and suddenly…” She let out a broken sob and looked up at the ceiling. “I can’t control my emotions after that and I feel like I’m watching a movie, watching myself act lovesick.” Her son grabbed her hand and she trembled.

“Probably some emotional manipulation then.” She nodded stiffly, eyes still on the ceiling as the tears ran down her face.  _ Domestic abusers have it coming.  _ He agreed, wholeheartedly. A grunt got his attention and he was out the door before he knew it, telling them not to move until him or his partner came back for them, sprinting back to V. His appearance distracted the man enough for V to kick him off of him. V gave him a weak smile.

“You couldn’t tell, but I was winning.” Jeremy snorted, but focused on the man. As the man smirked at him, Jeremy barely registered that his ancestors’ voices were getting quieter, and his mind started going blank. His panicked thoughts were being drowned out and his thought process felt like he was walking through water, sluggish and weighed down. He barely noticed V pointing the gun to the man’s head and pressing his hand against the man’s temples, eyes glowing brighter blue. The man’s eyes rolled back and Jeremy felt the control over his mind returning. V threw the man down and kicked his stomach. He knelt down to where Jeremy didn’t even know he was sitting on the floor and touched his forehead, a softer blue emitting from his eyes. A small smile worked its way to his face.

“You couldn’t tell, but I was totally winning,” Jeremy offered weakly. V shook his head and helped him off the floor.

“Emotional Manipulation for sure. Guy should come with a warning, honestly.” Jeremy nodded, feeling sick as he recalled the wave of  _ just turn away just let this happen don’t fight back  _ that had overcome him. He hated feeling so weak.

“It’s okay though, because I totally saved the day. Disabled his powers for a month. Hopefully, they can leave and report this before they come back.” Jeremy tilted his head.

“Only a month?” V turned to face the unconscious man.

“We’ll see how it is from then. Besides, the longer the limit is, the easier it’ll be for him to break my control over it.” Jeremy supposed he could understand that.

Thankfully, the woman had already called the police and she poured them lemonade with shaking hands until Jeremy took the pitcher from her and forced her to sit while they waited for them to show up, V taking up the task of entertaining her son. Her testimony, along with seeing Jeremy, was enough to at least get her husband on the agenda for the next day. When the police asked who V was, Jeremy had said  _ he’s an ally  _ without hesitation, V grinning at his words. They hadn’t exactly trusted V, but after his eyes glowed and he was able to recite their identities, addresses, phone numbers, family members, they got the message. An ally or not, don’t mess with this kid. Especially if Defender seems to have some connection to him.

That night, Jeremy took the feelings of being under someone else’s control and having someone else to back him up when he was usually alone to bed with him and fed the flames of those sentiments until he couldn’t keep his eyes open anymore.

 

_ [Breaking News! Hero or Heretic?] _

_ Our hero, the Defender, has gained a sidekick since the last time we saw him action! He was spotted leaving the scene of a crime. They agreed to an interview and revealed that it was only the newest hero’s first day on the job, but Defender stated that he looked forward to working together. Two of our newest hero’s powers have been revealed to the public, but the third is yet to be known. Follow our social media for live updates! _

 

Brooke canceled on their afternoon study session for calculus, but Jeremy hadn’t really thought much of it until Christine leaned against the doorway, dangling her keys teasingly.

“She had a job interview.” Jeremy looked up at her, slowly pulling out his notebook.

“Oh, cool. Where?” His pencil bag was next.

“Silver Diner.” She pulled out her phone and he pulled out his calculator.

“Mhm. She sent me pictures of the guy who’s gonna train her if she gets the job... Based on the fact that she already knows who’s training her, I’m guessing she got the job.” Jeremy hesitated, and put the calculator back in his backpack.

“Did she?” Christine smirked and turned her phone to show him the screen. The pencil bag was thrown back in as he scrambled up.

“ _ No way.” _

“You know, it really isn’t that far from here. I’m sure we could study somewhere else and it would be fine…” His notebook was shoved inside and he was zipping it as he walked, rushing past Christine as he speed-walked to her car, ignoring her snort.

 

Brooke didn’t even look surprised when she saw them enter, sending a lazy wave to them as they settled down. Jeremy felt his neck heat up and Christine snickered as she dropped her backpack onto the seats and slid in next to Jeremy.

“You guys are terrible,” he hissed as he watched Brooke enter the kitchen, probably looking for Michael.

“I’m just trying to get you laid,” she hissed back, before turning to face the duo that was approaching.

“Welcome, kiddos,” Michael’s smile was so blinding and Jeremy had to lower his gaze to the menus that Brooke had slid over to them. “What can I get you?”

Christine’s eyes lit up as she read over the shakes.

“Can I get a Campfire Shake?” Michael pulled out a little notepad and wrote her order down, and Jeremy thought back to all the times he had seen Michael’s handwriting in class, messy and lazy and loopy and it was perfect. Michael turned to him and smiled.

“What about you, Jeremy?”  _ Don’t fuck this up. _

“Uh, can I get uhhhh… Ginger ale?”  _ Idiot. _

“We have a new Guava Mint Ginger Ale. Haven’t tried it yet, but I’ve heard it’s pretty good.”

“Um, it sounds good?” Michael nodded and wrote it down, unaware of the way he looked in this lighting. Michael Mell belonged in a movie, an 80s movie with cliches and bad special effects, one with a low budget, but one that would be considered a cult classic. He just wanted Michael Mell immortalized in this setting, in this uniform, in this exact moment, with a pencil behind his ear and his hair pushed out of his eyes, with that smile that made Jeremy want to melt into the sidewalk.

Brooke sat across from them and talked quietly with Christine as Jeremy stared dreamily at Michael, ignoring the way that Christine rolled her eyes and Brooke ripped up napkins to throw the rolled up paper at him. He was watching him wipe down the counter when Michael suddenly looked up, raising an eyebrow at him. Jeremy’s face felt hot and he knew he was blushing, but Michael only sent him that smile that he seemed to have reserved for when Jeremy embarrassed himself. He looked away quickly and he could almost  _ feel  _ how hard Christine’s eyes rolled back, but he couldn’t force down the smile on his own face. He turned back and Michael was still smiling at him, even waving at him. He looked out the window and Michael went back to attending to other customers.

Jeremy felt at peace, listening to Christine and Brooke talk about musicals, and how Brooke should audition,  _ honestly brooke i’ve heard you sing! just try out!, christine n o please,  _ and the soft chatter of the few others at the diner around them, and the sizzling of whatever was cooking in the kitchen, and the after-effects of witnessing Michael Mell still evident on his face.

 

Christine and Jeremy approached the cashier, joined by Brooke, who was peering over the cashier’s shoulder to watch how she performed her tasks, and Michael was walking past them with dirty plates in his hands when someone entered.

Jeremy felt his blood run cold, and he froze. The lighting was better here, but he could still recognize him in an instant. Michael was frozen, too, watching this man, this  _ criminal,  _ take a seat. He swore that Michael’s eyes were blue for a second, but it must have been the weird diner reflections or something. Jeremy felt extremely confused and he really hoped that V would be out today.

 

Bringing his power forward, he felt himself get lighter, slipping into crowds as he searched for an appropriate place to change. He had put on his leggings before leaving the house, so he just pulled off his pants and pulled on his hoodie, making sure to face away from the entrance to the alley until he had secured the mask. He checked and felt his ancestors dryly congratulate him on picking an alley with a fire escape. He didn’t deactivate his power until he was far away from the alley, and felt the air rushing through his hair as his body stopped feeling so light, and he was running,  _ running, running,  _ it felt so good to run across rooftops and jump, and he smirked as he hit the next roof, knowing that no matter how much anyone with the ability to fly tried, they would never sense this  _ rush,  _ this risk of not landing perfectly, but knowing,  _ knowing,  _ that he would make it, that no matter what, the rush would never go away. 

He was breathless, he was always breathless after that first run, but he was smiling. The first run always did that. He knew that the smile would fade, once his breathing settled and his heart came down from the high.

It was the same house as before, the same house where he had taken that guy down with V, the same house where he had been Manipulated into blissful ignorance and he pushed down the feeling in his stomach as he remembered how easily he was taken down. His eyes narrowed as he watched silhouettes pass by the curtains, counting them, one, two,  _ three.  _ He tried to reason it out in his head,  _ someone’s just visiting her to help out, a babysitter, someone that isn’t him _ , but his ancestors laughed at him, bitter and knowing,  _ it never is what you wish it was,  _ and he swallowed down his anger. He just needed to wait for V to show up. Taking a seat on the roof, he leaned back on the chimney and wished desperately that he had some way of contacting V.

 

He had been waiting for eleven minutes, watching the silhouettes pass by, trying to find a happy version for the way the child was running away into the windows upstairs and the way he could hear furniture being thrown and broken.  _ Soon, right? He’ll show up soon. _

A part of him wishes he hadn’t shown up, not because he didn’t need the backup, because he did, not because he didn’t want him to show up, because he most certainly did. Jeremy Heere had never regretted another person’s actions more in his entire life.

The sound of a shoe slapping the pavement and the  _ vrrrrrr  _ was one that Jeremy had known since he was a child, one that he had heard from his neighbors as they rolled out of their driveways on the shiny red scooters they had gotten for Christmas.

And here V was, on a fucking scooter. Jeremy shut his eyes and counted to ten praying that it was just an illusion, a hopeful mind going crazy. He opened them and V was parking his  _ scooter,  _ undoing his kneepads, then elbow pads, and finally, his helmet. Jeremy can’t see very well from the roof, but he can definitely see the bright pink that is associated with Barbie. V throws them onto the ground next to his scooter and Jeremy has to count to ten again, just to prepare him for the conversation he’s about to have. As he stands and peers over the edge, he can see V looking around, presumably for him, and how his eyes grow brighter. His eyebrows raise and he looks around and Jeremy grins under the mask. GPS or something? Whatever it is, it’s reporting him as  _ there. _

Nothing in the world will ever be as great as dropping from the roof of a building, be it because of the rush he gets, from the air stinging the top of his cheeks, the weightlessness from free falling, or be it from the reactions of others as he drops next to them from out of nowhere. His feet sting a bit, but it’s worth it, seeing V look shocked as he stares in amazement at something that Jeremy is so accustomed to doing.

“So, listen,” Jeremy starts, and he can see the awe still in V’s eyes and he feels a smile starting to pick up the corners of his mouth, “as a hero, I understand the need for safety. I do, however, have a couple questions.” Jeremy sees a confused look flash across V’s face.

“Shoot?”

“Why Barbie?”  The change of expression is instantaneous, and he knows,  _ knows,  _ he has opened a door that he will never be able to close.

“You got something against Barbie?” Jeremy shuts his eyes, this counting to ten thing is starting to sound like a broken record.

“No, I just-”

“Because if you did, we would have some problems here,” and Jeremy’s heart stops beating because  _ wow  _ isn’t his last name so inconvenient in times like this.

“Did you actually  _ mean  _ to get those?” V’s face finally breaks into a smile.

“Listen, oh great  _ hero on a fucking budget,  _ it was the only one they had and I hadn’t actually thought it through of how I would get here. I saw my scooter and kinda thought,  _ hey my fucking scooter.”  _ And Jeremy laughs, and he knows it’s muffled, but he sees the way that V’s eyes get brighter, not dimming until his laugh fades away into a smile that V can’t see well.

“Alright, I guess I’m in no place to judge.” Jeremy turns to look at the scooter and shakes his head. “Never mind. I have to judge. Is that… is that a Spiderman horn… duct taped on?” V walks over and honks it affectionately.

“Did it myself.”

“I’m not surprised.” V honks again and Jeremy can’t help but laugh again, before his eyes slide over to the house across the street.

“Why is he out here?” V follows his gaze and nods. He turns back to Jeremy, face serious.

“I need a place more covered than this, maybe I can look into the case file and find something we missed.” Jeremy nods back and looks around, a small smile coming back onto his face and he looks up, back to the roof.

“No no no-”

 

“This is dangerous, you know?”

“Then step away from the edge and sit down. I’ll keep watch.” Jeremy pulls V back and takes his place and sits carefully with his feet dangling. He’s always loved sitting like this, ever since he first climbed onto rooftops, and found out how liberating it was. He didn’t see any movement in the silhouettes, so he closed his eyes, feeling the breeze of fall beginning to bleed into the summer haze. There was a soft electrical hum that he was learning to associate with V that was more comforting than what the city usually sounded like. He heard quiet swearing from V as he tried to touch to look through files.

“So, can you even do anything without a computer? Or does your vision extend into the physical realm?” V paused and looked over at Jeremy, eyes glowing extremely bright, making Jeremy squint.

“It’s, it’s hard to explain. I can access a main menu and change the settings into a VR type of thing, you know. I record some things and store them, but I don’t have an inventory. I can get a pretty good interface and touch the things that are in my vision. I have a keyboard out right now, but I totally get that it looks weird since you can’t see.” Jeremy nodded and turned back to the house, counting shadows  _ one two three.  _ The smaller silhouette had moved to a different room and the medium sized shadow was lighter as she was walking, but he was just happy she was still able to move, hoping that it was by her own free will.

“Are you  _ shitting  _ me?” Jeremy turned around and V was typing into the air angrily, his eyes turning purple. Jeremy frowned and stood up, sliding closer to V. He trusted V, but there was something scary about not knowing to what extent someone’s powers could be taken, and he was just concerned. He already had to worry about the obvious danger in front of them, he didn’t want to worry about V. The purple was darkening to a scarlet and he could hear the electrical hum from V growing into a harsh buzz. He panicked and reached out, grabbing V’s wrist. The red faded into startled blue eyes as V focused on him.

“Talk to me,” his voice was softer than he meant for it to come out, but he knew that using a louder tone wouldn’t have been the best idea either. V swallowed hard and he nodded.

“I was being blocked from accessing the files, which might sound normal, but this was a different type of blocking. I can get into most departments, because even if someone hacks them, they aren’t really hiding anything particularly scandalous, so the protections are loose. But when I was trying to get into this guy’s files, there was  _ extreme _ measures to keep it locked up well. I wasn’t expecting this to have such high measures of security. I was able to get past a few levels, but they’re getting trickier. This is beyond a little city police department. This is getting sketchy, I think we should go in and talk to him. I did a scan of the place before I tried to get the files and it’s reporting three people with powers in there, and Emotional Manipulation should definitely not be one of them.” Jeremy understood and he made his way back to the edge, trying to imagine the right way to get to the other building.

_ Jump to the bottom and then sneak in?  _ He could get stopped on the way in.

_ Jump to the roof and climb down?  _ He could fall from a lack of a good grip. Strength wasn’t his thing after all.

_ Well, fine what do you propose?  _ He thought for a second.

_ How is that any better than ours?  _ That’s a valid question, but it seemed to work in movies.

_ That doesn’t mean it’s a good plan.  _ Isn’t it worth a shot?

_ Absolutely not.  _ Good thing he’s the one in control then, isn’t it?

“Are we going in there?” Jeremy nodded and backed up from the edge, ignoring the wave of protests from his head.

“Okay, great, can you help me down- wait what are you doing?” He kept backing up and he focused. V was distracting him. Focus.

_ If you’re actually doing this, then clear your mind. You won’t make it if you don’t.  _ Focus.  _ At least attempt to get Michael Mell out of your head.  _ Focus.  _ Ha, why did we even bother? _

He rocked on his heels, feeling the empty air as his feet went further back.

_ Focus. _

He leaned forward, his mind clearing as he ran the image through his head again.

_ Seriously, a horrible idea. I hope you remember to ball up, but extend your feet when the time comes. Try not to get yourself killed. _ There was an echo as they all agreed. He smiled and focused on the window where the smallest shadow was, far enough away to barely be visible.

_ Focus. _

His skin felt hot as he felt his actions changing shape, his feet hitting the roof of the building to get the optimal speed, his eyes stinging as the air rushed through his hair, and he felt the rush rush  _ rush rush rush,  _ and there was some protest from outside of his head that he couldn’t afford to pay attention to, he had to  _ focus  _ and he was nearing the edge and it was time, and he was 

in the air.

He was in the air and he couldn’t control the surroundings, but he could control his body. There was a clear shift as his power changed the way he was falling, the angle fixed when he had kicked off of the edge, and he knew he had to  _ extend his feet  _ at any moment now, soon he would reach the glass and he needed to bring his feet back in to roll in.

The time seemed to slow down as he fell and he felt a pang of doubt, any moment he could fall, he could fall and he was so unprepared as to what would happen if he did.

_ Focus. _

The glass shattered and he heard a soft gasp as he rolled into the middle of the room, wincing at the feel of broken shards pressing against his hoodie, thanking his past self for getting such a thick fabric.

The child was looking at him, just as scared as Jeremy could remember being the first time he had ever seen a hero in action, but with awe in his eyes, the same way Jeremy had looked at the heroes as they passed by his house, back when his mom was still there, and he remembered her pointing them out and giving them praise, and that was the first time he ever heard one of his ancestors interjecting their opinion where he hadn’t asked for it,  _ if you really want to make her proud, then you should be out here someday, when you’re big enough kid. _

Jeremy helped him move away the glass while there was a slamming of doors and thundering footsteps to follow the sound of the glass. Jeremy closed his mind and begged his ancestors to keep him in check, keep him  _ focused. _

“What’s your name, kid?” He hated calling them “kids” even if it was what they were. It made him feel old and on the edge of retiring.

“Derrick.” Jeremy turned and raised an eyebrow.

“How do you spell it?”

“D-E-R-R-I-C-K.” Jeremy nodded and smiled, despite knowing that it wasn’t visible.

“Listen, if anything happens to me, I want you to run. Leave. Don’t trust your mom or dad, okay? They might not be thinking right and you need to be safe first.” He nodded and wrapped his arms around his small body, Jeremy pressing himself against the wall as the footsteps finally reached the door.

She came in with a shaking voice, but foggy eyes, and Jeremy did his best to incapacitate her without actually hurting her. Locking her in the closet was the best he could do, with the way that she struggled against him. She clawed against him, and Jeremy could barely fight back, with the sniffling he heard from behind him, the soft cries for this  _ child’s  _ mother to go back to normal.

Once she was inside, he could hear her begging to be let out, but Jeremy couldn’t. Not with Derrick still here, willing to listen to her.

“Don’t let her out.” Derrick nodded, but he was staring at the door. Jeremy hoped he could get the manipulator under control before she was let out by Derrick.

He carefully stepped out of the room and swore mentally as he noticed that the lights in the halls were dark, only slightly illuminated by certain lights left on to make a path.  _ Let us take control for this one. _ Jeremy really hoped it wouldn’t come to that.

The door was slightly open, and he  _ hated  _ how cliche this guy was being. He shut the door behind him and noticed that the man was still standing next to the window, smirking as he turned to face Jeremy.

“I could see you watching over us. The entrance… was somewhat surprising, though.” Jeremy snorted.

“Are you going to lecture? Should I sit?”

“Why are you here?”

“The better question is why are  _ you  _ here? Or, why is your case file sealed so shut? Why do you still have your power?” He received a condescending smile.

“Well, you see-” There was stomping in the hallway, and Jeremy crouched slightly, bending his knees to prepare to move and the man looked pleased.

_ Fuck, he let her out. I needed more time. _

“I could explain, but I have a feeling you’re going to be very busy.” Jeremy bit his lip in frustration while the other grinned in anticipation. The door was thrown open, hitting the wall as the figure entered the room.

“Are you  _ shitting me?  _ You left me on the fucking roof, you idiot! I can’t just jump off buildings, oh my  _ god _ . We are going to have a talk about communication once this is taken care of.”    
Jeremy laughed in relief and turned to the man.

“You’re right. We’re about to very busy.”

**Author's Note:**

> o kay so i have to explain something  
> this is definitely not all of it  
> theres more i didnt put in here just bc that was a natural ending point  
> i think ill post these in one shots so that i have time to properly build and develop this verse !!! so this is part one!!! but ill upload the rest of it!!! as time goes on!!!!  
> i have so many ideas for this but i kept pressuring myself to write even though i didnt feel inspired and i dont want to write it all in chronological order so i might upload another character's origins to show the verse im creating and how theyll come together eventually  
> i promise this is gonna make sense eventually but thank u if u made it this far!!!! ily and please feel free to send me messages or comments or upvotes ill cry


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